One of the reasons Cisco's growth has been so flaccid, we would argue, is that Chambers is trying to do too much: To attack fast-growing markets, Chambers has moved Cisco beyond its core network equipment business into the consumer market, which is obviously a very different business. Both of these businesses are difficult, and they are not "synergistic."

Chambers' Management Structure Has Failed

Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal detailed a management structure at Cisco that was so byzantine and bureaucratic that it prompted us to wonder aloud whether John Chambers had lost his mind. (Basically, Chambers was requiring hundreds of Cisco's top managers to spend at least a third of their time sitting on committees.)

And it turned out that Chambers had lost his mind.

Recently, as part of Cisco's latest reorganization, the company announced that it was abandoning the absurd system, which presumably contributed to Cisco's lousy recent growth.